Battling fake news, hate speech and violent extremism online: Are freedom of expression and a vibrant, global Internet caught in the crossfire?

Agenda

The dissemination of false news in the political arena has been around for as long as democracy. But the sources of dis-information, their rapid and widespread proliferation, and their influence on voters during the US and European election season, have given rise to a new, more urgent focus on the issue.

Separately, as incidents of violent terrorism and hate crimes proliferate on both sides of the Atlantic, social media platforms, civil society and governments are grappling with how best to address the abuse of the Internet from hate speech and violent extremism without chilling freedom of expression or impeding a vibrant, global Internet.

“Fake news” and hate speech/violent extremism are different issues, as are the methods to address them. In separate panels, we will examine best practices for dealing with dis-information and with hate speech and violent extremism online, and how they impact freedom of expression and a vibrant, global Internet.